Last year, our neighbor gave us some seed and in early spring this year, we have sown some in small containers. They all germinated and after transplanting around a dozen - as many as we could fit into the land stretch we had prepared for them - we were still left with several seedlings. We ended up giving them to the same neighbor, as we learned that his first seeding attempts were ruined by the heavy rains we had this spring (ours did not because they were protected by a handmade greenhouse).

Meanwhile, the small plants grew and the bright orange flowers started being replaced by small zucchini. Lots of them! Every day we pick up two or three, sometimes more. Not to speak of the lettuce, kale and green beans, that I will leave to another post (I sense this one is already getting too long). Of course we could only use up so many veggies if we didn't eat anything else (which we do), including breakfast and snacks. But because this abundance is limited to the summer period around this part of the world, what we do is stock up for the rest of the year. Fortunately, zucchini are extremely versatile and easy to conserve. Cut in relatively big chunks, they can be frozen without the need of bleaching them in boiling water first, as required by some other vegetables.

With these chunks, I'll be cooking delicious soups over autumn and winter. I also freeze them in smaller chunks and use them together with other veggies for pasta recipes (such as a delicious zucchini-tuna noodles recipe that's just coming to my mind). Cut in thin slices, I also use them for ratatouille or au gratin with onions, tomato and cheese. For now, I'm using the fresh from the garden in pasta and other dishes more suited to the hot weather we're going through, such as this chocolate zucchini bread that is delicious by itself, as well as taken together with a bit of ice cream. If you want to try it, this was the recipe I used.

And as I'm guessing you're probably getting tired of hearing me talk about zucchini, I'll leave you now. But I have to warn you that the odds are that I'll be coming back with more veggies next time. It's just that time of the year..A time of plenty that we should take profit of, since this is when fruits and veggies are more tasty and nutritious. And even if you don't have your own vegetable garden, you can make an effort to buy produce according to the season, for the chances are you are buying local, fresher products that didn't have to travel for miles and therefore didn't need all the processing to guarantee they can be conserved for longer periods before they reach your home.